Where would Liverpool be in the PL without Raheem Sterling?

Raheem Sterling, Steven Gerrard and Emre Can of Liverpool pose at the end of the Barclays Premier League match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at Anfield on May 16, 2015 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

That’s how many Premier League points Sterling’s goals and assists have been worth for Liverpool this season.

The England international has scored seven goals in the league and set up a further 10 for his teammates.

Removing those 17 goals would impact the results of 15 games.

However, it would only have affected the overall outcome in terms of win, lose or draw, of six matches, leaving the Reds with 13 fewer points.

Liverpool would find themselves in eighth place in the league without the goals Sterling’s been involved in, with Southampton, Tottenham, Swansea and Stoke all standing between them and the Champions League places.

Liverpool's Raheem Sterling celebrates scoring his team's opening goal against Southampton during the opening weekend of the Premier League at Anfield Stadium Photo by James Maloney

Liverpool won their first game of the season 2-1 against Southampton.

However, Sterling scored one of those and assisted the other, so taking those goals away would have meant that Liverpool would have lost the match 1-0.

The 2-1 victory over West Brom in October would have ended in a 1-1 draw without a goal set-up by Sterling, while the 3-2 win against QPR would have also ended in a draw without the goal he assisted.

Sterling’s contributions proved vital in clashes against two teams involved in relegation battles this season.

He scored the only goal in the away victory over Burnley, while without his assist at home to Leicester Liverpool would have lost the match 2-1 rather than draw it 2-2.

The only other match where the outcome would have been impacted by Sterling’s absence was the 2-1 home victory over Manchester City, where he assisted both of the Liverpool goals.

League without Sterling’s goals and assists

Chelsea: 84

Man City: 79

Arsenal: 71

Man Utd: 69

Southampton: 63

Tottenham: 61

Swansea: 56

Stoke: 51

Liverpool: 49

Of course that’s a simplistic view, by simply taking Sterling’s contributions away from the side.

Earlier this week some media outlets looked at Steven Gerrard’s influence this season and concluded that while Liverpool collected an average of 1.41 points per match with Gerrard starting, without him the figure rose to 2.15 points.

Using the same criteria for Raheem Sterling - across league and cup - with him in the side Liverpool have collected an average of 1.53 points per match. Without him - including his midwinter break - that figure rises to 2.25 points per match.